Agreement is possible

The problems that await resolution “are of limited scale”; so “an agreement is possible, within the terms of the mandate conferred on us by the European Council in June”, declared JOSÉ SOCRATES , Portuguese premier and current President of the European Council. Socrates exuded optimism on the eve of the summit in Lisbon on 18-19 October, convened with a priority task: reaching a compromise between the 27 member states on the future reform Treaty. GREATER EFFICIENCY FOR THE EU. “Reaching agreement on the final text of the future Treaty is the challenge I put to you for our meeting in Lisbon”, said Socrates in his letter to his “colleagues”, the heads of state and of government of the 27 now meeting in the Portuguese capital, which has been well prepared to host the event, in terms of organization, culture and tourism. In his letter convening the summit, described as “informal”, the Portuguese premier also referred to the opening of the intergovernmental conference (IGC) on 23 July and the adoption of the draft Treaty, dated 3 October. According to Socrates, the go ahead to the Treaty (to be officially confirmed at the European Council in December, before passing to national ratifications so as to have it ready in time for the European elections in 2009) “is a fundamental challenge for Europe”. Adopting the reform text means – in his view – not only that the EU “would be able to concentrate its efforts on issues of direct concern to citizens, but also to do so with greater efficiency”. A positive contribution to the summit has been made by the other Portuguese politician now holding one of the top posts in the EU: Commission President JOSÉ MANUEL BARROSO . In his many meetings with the political leaders of the Union, Barroso has asked them to adopt “attitudes coherent with the pledges they made at the Council in June”. NUMEROUS REQUESTS. The diplomacy of Barroso has permitted the summit in Lisbon to be held with a more precise picture of the problems that still need to be solved. Various countries have made specific requests. The UK has claimed exemption from the application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and common security and justice policies. Poland, under the leadership of the Kaczynski twins (the government of Warsaw tackled the Lisbon summit on the eve of the general elections on 21 October), has raised once again the problem of its own political “weighting” within the Council, invoking the “Ioannina clause”, which permits a minority of states temporarily to block a decision taken by the EU. Italy and Spain have raised the question of the allocation of seats in the European Parliament: in particular Rome does not intend to lose its traditional parity of MEPs with Paris and London. Objections of lesser moment have been raised by the Czech Republic (powers of the Commission), Austria (foreign student quotas in the country’s universities), and Bulgaria (pressing for the banknote denomination “euro” to be written in the Cyrillic alphabet). “THERE ARE NO EXCUSES…”. In spite of some specific problems to be tackled, “the EU has a great opportunity to take a big step forward” at the Lisbon summit, said Barroso on welcoming the delegations of member states in the Pavillao Atlantico, in the international trade-fair complex in Lisbon, on the banks of the Tagus. “In my view, there are two key issues at this meeting”, he said: “On the one hand the reform Treaty, on the other the European reaction to economic globalization. In both cases firm action is needed, for a strong and effective Europe able to act in this 21st century”. We need to “go beyond the institutional debate, on which we have worked for six years, by approving the draft Treaty” that emerged from the IGC. “Everyone must honour the commitments” taken during the six months’ German Presidency; “there are no justifications or excuses – insisted Barroso – to fail to reach an agreement”. The issues discussed at the summit in Lisbon also include the repercussions on the financial markets of the crisis of US subprime mortgages and climate change. YES TO FLEXISECURITY. The meeting of the leaders of the 27 was preceded by a tripartite social summit (EU institutions, trades unions and employers’ associations) for the definition of a “common strategy” on how to revive competitiveness and the labour market in the context of the Lisbon Strategy, having as its guideline so-called “flexisecurity” (flexibility and security). The EU institutions for the first time found themselves faced by a joint analysis of representatives of workers and employers (various federations and associations were present: CES, Businesseurope, CEEP, UEAPME) on how to tackle such issues as active policies for the labour market, training, macroeconomic policies, promotion of an environment favourable to business, mobility and contractual conditions. According to the participants at the tripartite summit, “flexisecurity is now a reality that we can try to apply throughout Europe, taking into account the specifics of each country”.